Saturday, February 28, 2009

AWESOME site for writers who need description cruthes!

These pics are from I Heart it.
It's basically like i-tunes for pictures, but there's no cost to view or take the pics.

Can't seem to put together full and perfect descriptions for your writing?! As I've said before, I always look to pics to help describe things in my writing-It's easier to not leave out visual factors when u have a photo in front of you!
This site is PERFECT to find your description crutches!!

Some pics from the site:

If you're not looking at this site, you SHOULD BE!

Really - I only mean it in the best way

awww! I saw this video today and was reminded of UR FACE!

If I squint at the screen, I feel like you're the one dancing ! Well...you MINUS 800 pounds. A haha! Ahhh....Well, Go get another bucket of moonshine and a straw - white trash Annie Wilkes!

Friday, February 27, 2009

Cupcake Adventures and the GIANT Psychedelic Mushrooms of the Apocalypse

I made these for Jason's school "Cupcake Buffet" - He's a music teacher--so I added the music notes to make them distinct!


These vanilla flavored cupcakes were more trouble than I expected...

I had wanted to do something interesting for a school Cupcake Buffet, and I was given the "rainbow" suggestion.
At first, I thought they were talking about 'confetti' cake mix--you know, the mix with the small colored balls of...something... in it?!
Anwyho- I thought that was lame, but the "RAINBOW" idea was great. I had seen a couple pics of some great looking rainbow cupcakes on Cupcakes Take The Cake, and I was interested.

You have to make vanilla mix and separate it into bowls for each color--then put each color in the cup bit......by .......bit. THIS takes precise measuring to be sure you don't put very much of each color or you will end up with TOO much batter, and cupcakes that look like .....

THIS
YEP- GIANT Psychedelic Mushrooms of the Apocalypse!
See THIS video for audio reference-


..............So- half a new batch later, I re-did the MONSTER cupcakes and replaced them with new and awesome ones that were not....enormous.....

THEN-I made some icing using a very old recipe.....which I will not give out - since it's a secret.
I then put the icing in piping bags with the smooth round piping tip and put the icing on in a swirled pattern like so...
NOW---I'm sure you've noticed the orange music notes---I made those by melting white chocolate and coloring it with gel dye(be sure to use gel dye for the cupcake coloring too---regular dye will make the dough runny and can stain ur hands and teeth-bleh!).
Anywho-- I funneled the melted orange chocolate(school's colors are green/orange) into clear plastic squeeze bottles and made tiny notes on parchment paper(AFTER making quite a few on a regular plate...I know-It was frustrating--but it was late :)

Here's the inside of some of the cupcakes
Fun! I made the "replacements" half gree/half orange to pay credit to the school colors as well, but I haven't gotten a pic of one of those cut up yet..... :)

Thursday, February 26, 2009

The Psychology of Writing

It’s during the intensely emotional times that we do the best writing. Eloquence seems to sharpen with each tear, and we suffer for the words.
The pages fail to heal the pain, but they still serve as an imparted code that the others like us we hope are out there will recognize and understand our search to feel whole.
ALSO- Even when readers understand and can relate to the author’s story, they are not healed.
BUT- When a reader reaches the end of a piece, there appears a thin line of connection between their mind and the author’s -like the web silk of a spider, the connections run from person to person until we are all bundled close together within the fibers and can see ourselves in the other’s eyes—not healed, but not invisible.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

OH MY GOD!! OH MY GOD!! OH MY GOD!!

COLDPLAY will be in HOUSTON in JULY!!
vocalist/pianist/guitarist Chris Martin
lead guitarist Jonny Buckland
bassist Guy Berryman
drummer/multi-instrumentalist Will Champion.




My daddo got me the vinyl of 'Viva La' Vida for Christmas! Here it is!!!
Art inside! I believe it has every song in their catalog on it!
Record and slip cover!!!!


There are few things I would say I love as much as Stephen King, but COLDPLAY is one of them!
I feel nervous just LOOKING at the 'Ticket master' site with their name on it!!!!!!
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WAY too much Penny/Coldplay info
:

lyrics that have accompanied my life - a la Coldplay!!

Me and Jason...

Selected lyrics from "The Scientist"

Come up to meet ya, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need ya
And tell you I set you apart
Tell me your secrets, and nurse me your questions
Oh let's go back to the start
Running in circles, coming in tails
Heads on a science apart

Nobody said it was easy
It's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh take me back to the start

I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling the puzzles apart.
Questions of science, science and progress
Don't speak as loud as my heart.
Tell me you love me, and come back and haunt me,
Oh, when I rush to the start



2 years ago, this song summed up my world.

selected lyrics from "Trouble"
O no, I see,
A spider web is tangled up with me,
And I lost my head,
The thought of all the stupid things I'd said.

O no, what's this?
A spider web, and I'm caught in the middle,
So I turn to run,
The thought of all the stupid things I've done,

And I never meant to cause you trouble,
I never meant to do you wrong,
And I, well if I ever caused you trouble,
And oh no, I never meant to do you harm.

They spun a web for me,
They spun a web for me,
They spun a web for me.

what if i got it wrong.


When I was lost in college...
selected lyrics from "Don't Panic"
Bones sinkin' like stones
All that we've fought for
All these places we've grown
All of us are done for

And we live in a beautiful world
Yeah we do, yeah we do
We live in a beautiful world

All in all that I know
There's nothin' here to run from
'Cos yeah, everybody here has
Got somebody to lean on...


"The Scientist" Coldplay LIVE in Toronto 2006!!!

"Violet Hill" Coldplay live on the BBC--viva la vida is after violet, but I'm giving that's it's own video below!



"Viva La Vida" Coldplay -playing live on the radio!!! AHHH!!!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Bake and Destroy!







These are pics from the Chicago bakery, 'Bake and Destroy'!

The founder's name is Natalie, and she's more punk rock than I could ever be bold enough to be. I love her insulting cupcakes, musical inspirations, and all around Kewl-ness!

Here's just a bit of her profile from her blog:

"My mom and my bosses at the bakery taught me a lot about the science of baking, but punk rock taught me to make it my own. I am constantly inspired by song titles, bands I love and the people in those bands who I consider my heroes. I hope, if nothing else, people who read Bake & Destroy find a way to make baking, cooking and creating their own as well. The world is your cupcake, dudes! So make it rad."

You can buy awesome Bake and Destroy goodies like this hoodie on Etsy.

I want one!

Laissez Le Bon Rouleau de Temps!

Let The Good Times Roll!



HAPPY MARDI GRAS 2009!



CUPCAKES!

Beads in the trees along St. Charles Street!

Store front!
Mask cookies for a Ball!
Louis Armstrong!
Beignets at Cafe Du Monde!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Oscars Fashion 2009

Best Fashion of the Oscars Night:

Marisa Tomei in Versace Atelier
This SO made up for her 'Golden Globes' outfit!


Natalie Portman in Rodarte (check out the AWESOME Rodarte shoes on their website! SO sick!)
Love the dress, but not her hair. When I first looked, I thought she had shaved her head again like she did for 'V for Vendetta'.


Taraji P. Henson in Roberto Cavalli


Classic without putting me to sleep!


WORST of the Night:

Sarah Jessica Parker in Dior Haute Couture
Carrie Bradshaw would wear it, but the styling for hair/make up was BAD BAD BAD!

Angelina Jolie in Elie Saab with her high class baby-daddy
I'm putting Angelina here until she stops dressing BORING!!!!!!


This Section is for people that DIDN'T BELONG at the OSCARs:


Beyonce - She performed in a HORRIBLE montage IN WHICH she threw more fire onto the whole Etta James-'At Last' song fight that was ignited after Beyonce performed-what Etta calls, "HER song" at President Obama's inaguration ball-AND looked like she was lip synching!
BUT I just don't think she belongs at the Oscars....She seems to be at EVERY awards show lately tho--What's UP with that?!

I should say that I'm not a Beyonce fan(tho her home is Houston just like me). She reminds me of Britney Spears: bad singer, but a great performer. Though- At least Brit doesn't pretend to be a "Real" singer.

Here she is in 'House of Dereon'-which is designed by her mom (I HATE most of her pieces)....they come off cheap- In my opinion.


Heidi Klum in Roland Mouret
mmmmm.....She should be at the DAY TIME emmys!


Miley Cyrus in Zuhair Murad Couture
Were her 'Bolt' voice-overs enough of a reason for her to be there?! I don't think so!
...and she looks like a pine cone!

The Speeches That Made Me Cry With Elation:


Dustin Black's Acceptance Speech for writing 'Milk'


Kate Winslet wins Bet Actress for 'The Reader'. She's the classiest lady- in my opinion!


GOSSIP:

I heard that Dev Patel and Frida Pinto from 'Slumdog Millionaire'(BEST movie I've seen in a long time) a COUPLE!! I hope it's true!!! I want them to be together like I want Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan to be together...
YAAAAYYY!!!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

TOP 2 Favorite BOOKS EVER!!!!!

NUMBER 1: The Talisman - Stephen King/Peter Straub
"...ya know, I dunno what it is about you, but you're just so irresistable! ...Can we just ...just hug?!"

Summary: This book charts the adventure of a young teen boy named Jack Sawyer. The adolescent hero sets out from Arcadia Beach, New Hampshire in a bid to save his mother, who is dying from cancer, by finding an enchanted crystal called "the Talisman."

The premise of the novel involves the existence of a parallel world to Earth, called "the Territories" (a strange fantasy world with ties (though these ties did not exist at the time of publication) to King's The Dark Tower). Individuals in the Territories have "twinners," or parallel individuals, in our world. Twinners' births, deaths, and (it is intimated) other major life events are usually paralleled. Twinners can also flip, but only share the body of their alternate universe's analogue.


Number 2: The Shining - Stephen King (that's a 1st Edition!)

...L is for the way you look at me....O is for the only one I see! V is very very extraordinary...E is even more than anyone that you adore!

Summary: Jack Torrance is a temperamental writer who is trying to rebuild his life after his alcoholism causes him to break the arm of his (then) three-year-old son, and after he later assaults a pupil at a Vermont prep school where he was a teacher, thus losing his job. Having given up drinking, he accepts a job as a winter caretaker at a large, isolated, Colorado resort hotel with a gory history. Hoping to prove that he has recovered from his alcoholism, and is now a responsible person, Jack moves into the Overlook Hotel with his wife, Wendy, and young son, Danny, who is clairvoyant and sensitive to supernatural forces.

The hotel is both a personality in its own right and a kind of psychic lens: it manipulates both the living and the dead for its own purposes; it also magnifies the psychic powers of any living people who reside there making them even more sensitive to its urgings. Danny, who has had premonitions of the hotel's danger to his family, begins seeing ghosts and frightening visions from the hotel's past, but puts up with them in the hope that they are not dangerous in the present. He does not tell his parents about his visions because he senses how important the job of caretaker is to his father and his family's future. However Danny realizes that his being in the hotel is making it more powerful and enabling it to make the things that normally cannot be dangerous become dangerous, like topiary animals that come to life.

Groovy Hair and Mardi Gras Beads!

I tried to get some pics of Jasmine Macaroon with her Mardi Gras beads on, but she wasn't having it.
My i-Mac camera has a setting to take pics every 5 seconds and I did that for two sessions---They came out pretty funny!
I don't feel very well today, but in a bit I'm supposed to go to that Mardi Gras Party AND I think my hair looks pretty groovy today-SO it will probably be a good time! There's supposed to be like 100 people at this person's house! Heavy!